▎ WuXi AppTec content team editor
In the eyes of many people, coffee has long been not only a drink, but also developed into a culture, a way of life. For many, coffee has become the "standard" of daily life.
At home, it allows people to spend time and experience slow life in a room filled with fragrance; when tired at work, it is a "good medicine" for office workers to recharge; in leisure time, it is an indispensable part of friends gathering and socializing.
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However, drinking coffee should also pay attention to the method, how to drink it will be healthier?
Recently, a number of studies presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC 2022) showed that drinking coffee, especially two to three cups of coffee a day, is not only associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and abnormal heart rate, but also related to longer lifespan. Moreover, these trends apply to people with cardiovascular disease or not.
Screenshot source: ACC official website
The researchers emphasize that the current studies have conducted the largest analysis of the potential role of coffee in heart disease and death, and the results of the analysis confirm that coffee is not associated with heart disease or worsening heart disease, but may have a protective effect on the heart.
Peter M. Kistler, MD, a professor at Alfred Hospital and Baker Heart Institute in Melbourne, Australia, said, "The study data suggests that daily coffee intake should not be banned, but should be made part of a healthy diet for people, whether they have heart disease or not. He further noted, "We found that coffee has a neutral effect, which means that it is not harmful and may also be beneficial to health." ”
The research team used sample data from the UK Biobank, a large-scale, prospective database containing health information for more than 500,000 people who have been tracked for at least 10 years. The researchers looked at the relationship between different coffee intakes from one to six cups per day and subjects experiencing arrhythmias, cardiovascular disease (including coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke), all-cause death, or heart disease-related deaths. The researchers grouped subjects based on how much they reported drinking coffee per day (based on questionnaires filled out at the time of registration), such as 0, 5 cups/day.
Overall, the researchers found two results: 1) Coffee drinking did not have any adverse effects on the subjects. 2) The risk of cardiovascular disease has been significantly reduced in many cases by controlling various factors that affect heart health and longevity, including exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking, diabetes and hypertension.
Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day has the best health benefits
In the first study, the effects of habitual coffee consumption on cardiovascular disease, arrhythmias and mortality were studied. The researchers evaluated data from 382,535 subjects who had no known heart disease to see if drinking coffee played a role in the development of heart disease or stroke in a 10-year follow-up survey. The average age of the subjects was 57 years, and half of them were women. The results of the study found that
In general, drinking two to three cups of coffee a day has the greatest benefits, reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, heart failure, heart rhythm problems, or death from any cause by 10 to 15 percent.
People who drink one cup of coffee a day have the lowest risk of stroke or heart-related death.
The researchers did observe a U-shaped relationship between coffee intake and new heart rate problems. Because subjects who drank more or less coffee every day had less benefit.
A second study, which explored the correlation between routine coffee intake and improved mortality from cardiovascular disease, included 34,279 people with different cardiovascular diseases. The results of the study found:
Subjects who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a lower chance of dying than those who did not drink coffee.
Importantly, drinking any amount of coffee does not increase the risk of heart rhythm problems, including atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, which researchers say is often a concern for clinicians.
Of the 24,111 subjects with arrhythmias included in the analysis, the study showed that drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death. For example, participants with atrial fibrillation who drank a cup of coffee a day had a mortality rate nearly 20 percent lower than those who did not drink coffee.
"Clinicians generally don't recommend people who already have cardiovascular disease or arrhythmias to continue drinking coffee, so they are often overly cautious and will advise them to stop drinking coffee altogether for fear that it may trigger abnormal heart rhythms," said Dr. Kistler, "but our research shows that regular intake of coffee is safe and may be part of a healthy diet for people with heart disease." ”
Although drinking two to three cups of coffee a day appears to be the most beneficial, the researchers suggest that people should not increase their coffee intake, especially when it makes them feel anxious or uncomfortable.
Dr Kistler said: "Coffee drinkers should feel reassured that they can continue to enjoy coffee even if they have heart disease. Coffee is the most common cognitive enhancer – it refreshes the mind and makes people think more quickly. "
So how do coffee beans benefit the heart? People often equate coffee with caffeine, but coffee beans actually contain more than 100 bioactive compounds. Dr. Kistler said these substances can help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, boost metabolism, inhibit intestinal absorption of fat, and block receptors known to be associated with abnormal heart rhythms.
In the third study, the researchers explored the effects of different coffee types on heart rate events, cardiovascular disease, and mortality. They looked at whether there was a difference in the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease, depending on whether people drank instant or freshly ground coffee, caffeinated or caffeinated coffee.
The study again found that drinking two to three cups a day, whether they drank freshly ground or instant coffee, had the lowest risk of developing arrhythmias, coronary artery blockage, stroke or heart failure. Mortality is lower for all coffee types.
Caffeine-free coffee does not have a good effect on preventing arrhythmias, but does reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, with the exception of heart failure.
Dr. Kistler emphasized that the findings suggest that caffeinated coffee is more popular and that caffeinated coffee has no cardiovascular benefits.
In the future, further medical evidence will be obtained through trials
The team noted that the studies had several important limitations: the researchers couldn't control the dietary factors that could lead to cardiovascular disease; they couldn't adjust for any intake of creamer, milk, or sugar; and the participants were predominantly white, so more research was needed to determine whether the findings were extended to other populations.
Although studies have shown that people's eating habits do not change much in adulthood or for a period of time. However, these results should be validated in randomized trials.